


Buying The Space Farm

by JaneyKatherineHummingbird



Series: Star Trek Reader Inserts [11]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Star Trek Into Darkness, Warp core
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 08:19:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11528301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneyKatherineHummingbird/pseuds/JaneyKatherineHummingbird
Summary: Reader is summoned to help Scotty and gets a horrible surprise when the task involves retrieving the dead captain.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Repost.

The last 48 hours had been an absolute nightmare--from the moment Jim came to tell you he'd been demoted for breaking the Prime Directive. You'd thought seeing that crushed look on his face was the hardest problem you'd face as his loyal crew person (and girlfriend) but things rapidly spiraled out of control, including the Enterprise, which was in a free fall from orbit, powerless to escape the earths gravity. You cursed Khan and Marcus to the fiery pits of hell as you struggled to remain upright while the ship lurched and bucked. Frantic with worry for Jim, who'd been beamed back to the ship with Scotty and an injured Carol Marcus, you'd been trying to get to Medbay when the Enterprise lost power. 

Jim had been angry and withdrawn ever since Pike was killed in Khan's attack and shut you down every time you tried to talk to him. Leonard hadn't had any better luck.

"Give him time, Y/N. It hit him hard. He's even snubbing Spock at this point. Damn that bastard Harrison, murdering scum." 

"I second that sentiment," you sighed. "Tell me if he starts talking, please. I've got to report to Lieutenant Commander Hendorff for our mission briefing."

That mission to capture Khan had led to Marcus threatening the ship, a terrifying space jump (that you'd have words with Jim about later), Jim held at phaser point by Khan as he demanded his crew, and now it appeared your imminent demise along with all of your Enterprise family. 

Sadness filled you as you realized you wouldn't get to say good-bye to Jim and you closed your eyes, waiting for the end.

Suddenly, the ship leveled out and stabilized as the thrusters came back and power returned. 

"What happened?" You wondered. 

"Scotty must have performed a miracle," panted your friend, Brad. "The man's a genius!" 

"With a misaligned warp core?" You asked, worried for the chief engineer. "That would be some feat. I hope he didn't do something crazy."

Lights started to come back on and communications began to be resumed minutes later. Your comm soon beeped urgently and you picked it up, shaking a bit with relief, hoping it was Jim. 

"Report to Engineering, Lieutenant Y/L/N," came your superior's voice. There's been a warp core breach and the crew down there is stretched thin. They need a party for a retrieval, as his whole crew is working on getting the ship stabilized."

"Yes, Sir." You answered, and a cold chill entered your heart at having to find a dead body. Engineering had already taken many casualties from Marcus's attacks and now this......

Upon arrival in Engineering, you saw a bustle of activity going on, but Lieutenant Commander Scott looked like he'd lost his last friend.

"Reporting for duty, sir," you said nervously. 

"Well, lieutenant, I'm afraid it's a rather unpleasant duty that I need a hand with. The core's been realigned, but it was done manually, which means the brave idiot went into the core." 

Horror filled you as you realized what he meant. The person who'd saved the ship was probably dead from Radiation poisoning by now, and that was no easy way to go. 

"Put on these protective suits, please. The decontamination period is over, but better safe than sorry. He's right inside the chamber door, don't know how he made it that far."

 

You nodded and you and Brad put on the bulky Radiation proof suits and followed Scotty's directions to the small chamber. 

You felt your heart stop as you took in the sight of your captain's empty blue eyes staring at you, a look of fear and sadness frozen on his dead face. Jim was slumped against the chamber door as if he'd been trying to get out, but death got there first. You had to choke back a pained cry at the sight, after all, Nobody knew about the two of you except Bones. 

Jim was dead: really, really, dead and the fun-loving, feisty, caring man you'd loved was gone. 

As you fought to keep yourself in control, Brad gasped beside you. 

"The captain's dead? He went in there and fixed the core?" 

"Aye," Scotty nodded. "I would've done it myself, but the lad got the drop on me." 

He punched in a few numbers and stepped back. The door opened without a sound and you ran forward and caught Jim's body in your arms as it slid over sideways. He still felt warm, but that was mostly the Radiation in him.

"How long ago?" You asked softly, voice quivering. Together you and Brad dragged Jim out of the room and Scotty shut the door again. 

"Twenty minutes, perhaps? It's been chaos around here, so it's hard to tell," Scotty answered heavily. 

Heartbreak was flooding you in waves as you clutched Jim. He'd died to save his crew and gone out a hero like his dad and you didn't even get to say good bye. 

Hadn't it been just three days ago when those limp arms had been firmly around you? The now blue lips warm and soft against yours? 

You picked up his hand and observed burns and cuts marring the fair skin. It killed you to imagine the kind of pain he went through in his last minutes. 

You swallowed a sob, hoping the medical team would be here soon. You didn't know how much longer you could keep it together before the grief overwhelmed you.

"It's just the sort of thing he'd do," you blurted out. "Throw his own life away to save his ship. He truly cared about us."

"Aye, he did," nodded Scotty. "That's what made him such a good captain." 

Two of Dr. McCoy's aides arrived presently and took charge of the body. 

It made you queasy inside, seeing your dead boyfriend being put in a body bag, but your legs refused to move you away for some reason. At least they'd closed his eyes so you couldn't see the blank stare anymore. 

You and Brad solemnly escorted the gurney to Medbay, met by Bones, who sighed when he saw the bag. 

"Put it here. Is this the warp core breach?"

"Aye," said Scotty. "I'm afraid it's the Captain, Doctor."

Leonard's eyes slid shut in anguish as he placed a hand on the zipper of the body bag. 

"Dammit, Jim!" He whispered, pulling the zipper down to reveal Jim's face. The look of devastation on his face grew when he looked up and saw you.

"Oh, heck. Did you see it happen, Y/N?"

"No," you managed, eyes burning with the effort to keep your tears at bay. 

"We helped remove him from the chamber...after...." 

The words "he died" didn't make it out of your mouth. Bones looked askance at Scotty and looked like he wanted to chew him out, but you shook your head and mouthed "He didn't know!" 

You both looked back down at Jim's still figure and you started to tremble, tears now falling down your cheeks. 

"Baby, why?" You whispered, running a hand down his cold face. "Why did it have to be you?" 

Of course, Jim would have felt the responsibility was his alone, being captain, but how you wished that wasn't the case! Now, there would be no more teasing smiles, no more laughing play fights in the gym, no more stealth dates over candlelight, no more arguing passionately over ancient earth literature, no more Jim. 

Leonard's own eyes were wet as he gently steered you to a chair and the room went deathly quiet as you grieved together--until the soft coo of a tribble interrupted.


	2. Chapter 2

The two weeks of Jim's coma were the longest in your life. For a while, Leonard couldn't say whether he'd even live to wake up again and you lived constantly on edge, dreading getting that call again. You spent whatever time you could at Jim's bedside, talking to him or reading to him from his favorite books. Leonard seemed to be pleased with his brain activity increasing and encouraged you to keep it up. 

"I think it does him good to hear your voice, Y/N," he said on day eleven of the vigil. 

"You think he's hearing me?" You asked hopefully.

"Something's getting through. His brain activity is up when you're here. Keep up the good work, but you need some rest yourself. Jim won't be happy when he wakes up and sees you on the verge of collapse."

"But there's so much to do, Bones," you pleaded. "So many people need help. A lot of people are homeless or missing. I can't not help." 

You'd been volunteering at the very full homeless shelters, helping families stay together and serving meals to the displaced. It was hard, but it kept you from fretting too hard about Jim and reminded you there were many suffering souls in the city.

"You're right, but I strongly recommend you take a break so you can better help people. Jim always talked about how caring you were and how much he loved that about you."

"Did he?" You asked, looking longingly at Jim's form. 

"Umm-hm," The Doctor nodded. "Kid's crazy about you."

"Until recently," you said sadly, thinking of how Jim had shoved everyone away in his anger and grief. 

"He's gonna be regretting that when he wakes up, I think," he sighed. "Spock mentioned he dropped your name at the end."

Oh. Commander Spock had seen Jim die and if Jim had mentioned you by name...

"Does he know?" You asked.

"He guessed. Promised to keep it confidential, though. The Vulcan's a good sort, even if he is infuriating most of the time.

"Oh, Jim." You went over and gently kissed him on the forehead. 

"Please wake up soon. You have a lot of explaining to do, handsome." 

Three days later, Bones commed you to tell you Jim was finally awake! Heart in your throat, you raced back to the hospital. Sure enough, the Blue eyes were wide open and Jim's rumbly voice, scratchy from disuse, could be heard talking to Spock. 

Tears of joy filled your eyes, but you hung back and waited for a moment. 

"Y/N? Come in. Don't be shy. You're just the person I wanted to see," Jim spotted you and called you over as Spock made his departure.

"Hi, Jim," you said tentatively, approaching the biobed. He looked so thin and weak, but gloriously alive. Thank goodness for Khan's blood and Leonard's tenacity. 

"Hey, beautiful! Miss me?" Jim asked, holding out a shaky hand that you clasped in yours. 

You teared up again. "Every second of every minute of every hour of every day, hon. I can't believe you up and died on us!"   
Bringing his hand to your lips, you gently kissed it and Jim looked at you in regretful tenderness. 

"I'm sorry about that babe. I couldn't think of another way to save you. A captain's got to think of his crew's well-being first. It was my fault we got in that mess to start with." 

"It was Marcus's and Khan's fault, Jim. They both lied and used you for their own ends. I know why you did it, but I can't stand the thought of you suffering like that." 

You shuddered, remembering what he'd looked like on the autopsy table and his fingers tightened in yours. 

"It didn't last long, though, babe. Thanks to my stubborn CMO, I get a second chance to tell you how sorry I am for being so rude to you. That was my biggest regret when I was dying: how badly I'd treated you. Forgive me?" 

His big blue eyes were honest and imploring and it would have taken a Klingon to resist them when he looked like that.

"Of course, Jim," you told him. "Now, forgiving you for dying on me might take a few days. I had to drag your dead body out of that chamber, you know." 

Jim grimaced.

"Let me guess, Scotty was short-staffed, right?"

"Yep." 

"Oh, man, Y/N, I'm even more sorry."

Jim sighed. "What a mess. I probably scarred half the crew for life."

"We'll live thanks to you," you told him. "But please, don't do anything like that ever again. I didn't even get to tell you I loved you one last time." 

"An unfortunate fact I also rue. But, let me tell you right now: I love you, Y/N. I couldn't stop thinking about you as I was climbing the core." 

"Jim," you said, leaning over and framing his face with your hands. It was so good to feel the warmth of his living skin, pale though it was. "I love you, baby. Always. 

You had to hand it to the man, even when he was a shell of himself, he still kissed like a champ. 

Bones had to shoo you out afterwards, groaning at the sappy faces you and Jim were making at each other. 

"Dammit! I'm a doctor, not a chaperone!!"


End file.
